People often say that the kitchen is the heart of a home, but we’d suggest that it’s actually the pool. After all, you can always order takeout or delivery, but, in Florida, you can’t replace on-demand access to cool water on a searing summer day or a bubbling Jacuzzi on a chilly night.

And plenty of people agree. The demand for homes with pools has skyrocketed in recent years, particularly since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when outdoor living became all the rage. As a result, developers are incorporating pools into most of the designs for their new single-family homes, and condo builders wouldn’t dream of not including one in their blueprints. The trend isn’t going
away, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Check out these four Sarasota pools
we love.

A Trip to the Tropics

Jurassic Park watering hole or real-life resort for the rich and famous? This pool captures the feel of both. It’s the work of Lucas Lagoons, a local pool design firm known for its over-the-top creations that turn outside spaces into experiences that rival any high-end interior. The company’s work used to be the focus of Animal Planet’s Insane Pools: Off the Deep End, which followed Lucas Lagoons owner Lucas Congdon and his team as they built unbelievable pools for clients throughout Florida. The previous owners of this extravagant pool on Siesta Key included a woman from Panama, and the couple wanted to recreate a tropical feel from her home country. That’s where the lush landscaping and tiki huts come in.

The design, which took roughly a year to complete, starts at the front entrance, where the facade of the home is wrapped with rocks jutting out in natural layers. Colorful bromeliads and palms burst out between the boulders, some as heavy as 3,000 to 4,000 pounds. A bridge made from Ipe Brazilian hardwood crosses a water garden studded with plants and small waterfalls that splash over natural rock, so you don’t have to be in a bathing suit to enjoy the water. The other end of the pool is deep enough for diving from the top of the grotto waterfall, and thoughtfully placed layers of rock create steps to easily climb it from behind. By night, the water is underlit in shimmering blues and purples and a fire element flares up from the rock and adds a dramatic effect.

The patio surrounding the pool, where loungers soak in the sun, is made with 3,000 to 4,000 square feet of natural Tennessee flagstone, which is challenging to install. “You’re shaping each individual piece to fit each other,” says Congdon. “They’re not like interlocking pavers. I fly to Tennessee and select it and have it shipped to the projects.”

Saltwater isn’t ideal here, since deposits would build up on the rocks, so Lucas Lagoons opted for a combination of ultraviolet, ozone and chlorine treatments to maintain the freshwater. Thanks to the system, “just a third of the chlorine needed to treat a traditional pool is required,” says Congdon.

To frame the pool, Congdon likes using an abundance of palms, “because once they’re established they’re hearty and low maintenance,” he says. “And there are so many different types to choose from. If you’re coastal, coconut palms are beautiful hanging over the water. If you want privacy, Areca, fishtail and lady palms are great.”

Congdon estimates that the cost to create a private pool oasis at this level would run more than $2 million today, with the pool alone costing $1.5 million. But living with a backyard that looks like a vacation getaway may save you some money on travel.

Taking the Plunge

Sometimes it’s less about making a splash and more about taking a seat. That’s what this urban saltwater plunge pool at the Rosemary District’s Zahrada is all
about. It includes a builtin bench that stretches around almost half of the pool’s roughly 9-foot-by-16-foot perimeter and goes only 4 feet deep.

“When we were building it, some people thought it was too small, but most thought it was perfect—just enough to take a dip, get a drink and get wet,” says Frank Lambert, who moved into the unit with his wife Anita a year and a half ago. “Most people don’t want to do laps.” (Both Frank and Anita are realtors with Premier Sotheby’s.)

The unusual perk of a personal pool in a condo setting was part of what helped
Zahrada’s six residences sell out before it was complete in 2021, and it helped allay doubts that came with building luxury condos in a neighborhood where they previously didn’t exist. In 2016, many believed the collection of three-story residences priced from $1.3 to $1.85 million, perched above ground-level commercial spaces, wouldn’t fetch wealthy buyers, mainly because the building is within walking distance of Resurrection House, The Salvation Army and the clients they serve.

But Zahrada is also within walking distance of all the amenities of downtown
Sarasota, with 43 restaurants to choose from in a four-block radius—not to mention theaters, a weekly farmers market, year-round festivals and the waterfront. And, despite its condo setting, Zahrada proved private pool ownership was still feasible.

“We thought the pool would make it sell,” says Lambert. “We wanted something
different. That’s why it has 1,700 square feet of outdoor living space when you combine all the terraces it has. And it’s all about the outdoors when you live here. I think it’s one of the reasons it’s been so successful. It feels like a single-family home without having to take care of one.”

With little room for a dedicated Jacuzzi, the Lamberts’ pool has a heater and two jets. One clever addition is a small fountain next to the pool that blocks out street noise. Nearby, there’s a grill and a sink, with room for a fridge, but the Lamberts decided to do without one, since outdoor appliances take a beating from the climate, plus their indoor fridge is just 20 steps away. From the pool’s terrace, the skyline views include The Mark condominium, Fruitville Road and its shops and businesses, the Arcos apartments and all the hustle and bustle that come with living in the middle of it all. And more neighbors are on the way. Next door, Zahrada II has broken ground. The project was designed by Halflants + Pichette, the same Sarasota architects who created the original Zahrada the Lamberts live
in. The already-sold-out 16 residences will include European finishes, floor-to-ceiling glass, private garden spaces, terraces and private pool envy. The pool there will be communal.

A Private Oasis

For decades the home of botanist Hans Wiehler, who worked at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in its early years and founded a research foundation dedicated to the gesneriad family of tropical plants, this bungalow and its private grounds received a makeover by Wiehler’s son, Danny, who then sold the home to Stimson Schantz in 2020 for $1.25 million. Danny installed the pool next to the almost-100-year-old home, which is surrounded by a rich tropical jungle that fills a corner lot in downtown Sarasota’s Laurel Park.

Previously an oncology surgeon in New York City, Schantz retired, moved to Sarasota and became a personal trainer. When the Covid-19 pandemic put an end to that, he earned a real estate license that he values more for the knowledge it gave him about the local real estate scene than for his ability to actually buy and sell the stuff. He has spent much of his time perfecting what Danny started when he inherited the property after his father, Hans, passed away in 2003.

Danny’s renovations included upgrades to the outdoor space. He replaced the poly-pebble deck where his father’s greenhouse had stood with a 40-foot rectangular saltwater swimming pool surrounded by terracotta potted flowers and Chicago brick terraces that he laid himself. The north wall is covered in fragrant jasmine vine, and, at its head, a freshwater fountain with a tiered waterfall spills through a lion’s mouth into the larger pool.

In the process of building the pool, the contents of Wiehler’s greenhouse were donated to Selby, and Danny built an accompanying koi fountain in the backyard. Schantz, who was once working toward earning a landscape certification from the New York Botanical Garden, has maintained and added even more flora to either side of the meandering paths, which were already flanked by giant oldhamii bamboo, crotons, palms, a majestic old oak with bromeliads and orchids in its branches, massive staghorn ferns, frangipani and bougainvillea.

It’s no surprise this hidden tropical oasis also comes with a slice of historic gossip—a tribute to a woman said by many to have been a previous owner’s mistress. A plaque on the seat of a concrete bench by the koi pond reads, “In memory of Em Wood,” with the dates “1913-1991.” Schantz’s wife Christine says research has revealed that Wood may have run a Sarasota coffee shop at one time; the couple is not sure if she ever lived in the home.

Although Schantz was a swim coach in college, today, it’s more the kids and Lily, their bichon frisé, who hop into the pool. “[Lily] goes nuts anytime anybody gets in there and she wants to go, too,” says Schantz. The pool and its surroundings act as a natural gathering place. “It’s where we spend the most time,” says Christine, “whether in it or near it.”

Classical Beauty

Thanks to its balconies and ornate detail, this pool is right out of Romeo and Juliet. But instead of finding it in Verona, Italy, you’ll discover it on Siesta Key, where the marriage of Old World curves and modern amenities makes for a romantic getaway, even if just for a weekend. The five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom home is listed on Airbnb, where it’s available for almost $16,000 a week.

What brought property owners Lisa and Jaime Castro, both health coaches, to the area? As for many people, it was the “sun and beach and beautiful sand,” says Lisa. The couple lives in a less opulent abode just a quarter-mile kayak ride down the waterway from the 4,152-square-foot villa at 3482 Flamingo Avenue, which the Castros bought for $5 million as an investment property in 2021.

The rental’s 45-foot-long courtyard lap pool is reminiscent of a Roman bath, with a tile edge that mimics crown jewels flanked on either side by two entertainment areas, including a bar, a lounge, televisions and a mahogany pool table. It’s surrounded by arches and stone columns, and the pool’s placement at the center of the home flirts with both indoors and out. That design element is most pronounced due to an opening to the sky above, which allows for stargazing at night. Below, a portion of the pool juts outside beyond an arched cutout in an exterior wall.

The pool also overlooks a large backyard and canal access that leads to Sarasota Bay. From the second floor, three balconies with alcoves hang over it. One of them connects the master bathroom to the living room like a breezeway.

The interior courtyard pool design helps keep the house cool in the summer. “It lowers the temperature by 10 to 15 degrees and creates a natural draft,” Lisa says. The previous owner enjoyed watching water rain down into the center of the house during storms.

The Castros themselves like to steal away for a date night by the pool every now and then, Lisa says, since sleeping at Casa Flamingo—named after the street on which it sits—is like “staying at a resort.” In addition to its great pool, the home sits less than 100 yards from the Gulf of Mexico.

Built in 2019, the home needed few changes when the Castros purchased it, but the couple did install glass and iron front doors to create an uninterrupted view of the pool from outside the front entrance of the home. It seems to have worked. One Airbnb guest’s review says, “Opening the front doors to this gorgeous pool is something I will never forget.”